5 Watercolor Rules Made to Be Broken (Step by Step)

Stop making these watercolor mistakes....BUT. Yes there is always a but!

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VIDEOS MENTIONED

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MY JOYFUL ART SUPPLIES (Specific list for this vid below)

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PRE-ORDER My Newest Book! Mixed-Media Adventures

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Chapters

0:00 - Intro
0:10 - The watercolor gap
1:22 - A bit about me....
1:58 - Physical and emotional watercolor
2:33 - The Rules

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WHAT I USED

PAINT:
Wide variety

PAPER:
A wide variety of papers were used but examples of the rules were on:

BRUSHES:
The Art for Joy’s Sake Brush Collection

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FIND ME ELSEWHERE:

TikTok:

Instagram

Founder and Host of #Artforjoysake

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Kristy’s WATERcoloring Books:

How to Make Art for Joy’s Sake - Free-Spirited Watercolor

[donnajones]

I was told by an art teacher in the seventh grade that art is 95% Hardwork and 5% talent but some kids don’t have the 5% talent… she meant me ….so I gave up and never tried art again. ..until now .I’m 70 years old and I’m loving learning to watercolor with you!
I am a retired high school teacher and senior photographer (loved), I tried pottery…(no go), sewing (so-so), and I’ve been a passionate gardener for 5 decades. But, today its all about learning to watercolor😍Thank you for all you teach!!

[natalierice]

You opened a can of worms. I've tried so many types of art; crochet, photography, rubber stamping, card making, scrapbooking, watercolor, stenciling, mixed media, junk journals, gelli printing, sewing, quilling, die cutting and I'm sure I missed a few. When I was in Jr high I wanted to become a grade school art teacher. My favorite teacher was my k-8th art teacher. We were friends all thru my adulthood, too until she passed away. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a decent grade on anything from my high school art teacher, so I became a hairdresser instead (another form of art). I still dabble in most of the aforementioned. Watercolor is the area I always want to improve more. Thanks for your fun spirit and lessons.

[mariemyndala]

"serial creative spirits" Woot Woot! I'm in that club🧡🧡!!

[marygeer]

Sculpture; metal, glass, clay, wood, ah whatever I can dream up. Photography; fine art. Drawing; always practicing. Painting; oils, watercolor, acrylic, pastel’s. Like you I’m drawn to most creative endeavors. I love to make cut out sugar cookies and decorate. My cheesecakes have to be beautiful. Gardening and DIY

[AnaPie]

Not you calling out my paper pilling 😂😂😂

I quit my toxic job yesterday! And omg I’ve been so happy and creative today. Loved this one Kristy!

[colleenmcchesney]

I’m guilty of too much water, not enough water, & too much pressure. Another great video & thanks for sharing this.

[pettiestbettyart]

I'm a constant overthinker lol, and one you didn't mention, a collector, I collect tools and papers and paints and glitters and glues (because mixed media!) then I watch tutorials and technique videos while doing my other hobbies that don't require a lot of attention, like my knitting lol.

[louisebacon-ogden]

I realized that I loved detail, detail, detail and therefore drawing was and still is my favorite. Graphite and pen and ink (black, no color) is so great because I can just go and go. Any black and white is fun for me...scratchboard, ink wash, Sumi-e and white colored pencil on black paper. No waiting for the paint to dry. I have wanted to watercolor for a long time. Charlotte, a friend in her 90's, encouraged me to keep trying. After all I was ONLY 69 (at the time) and she said I had "plenty of time!" I realized the detail got in the way. Most W/C classes I took were all taught in a certain way. I did NOT want to paint "normally." I said I wanted to do "watery" water colors. I found the phrase, LOOSE, ABSTRACT! I stumbled onto YouTube during the pandemic and there it was, MY kind of painting! My friend died at age 102. I looked to the heavens and said, "Charlotte, I finally did it!" I want to just paint, most of the time, not even have a sketch. I just want to keep going until I am done. I love your style. I do some things differently as I love to mix my own colors. For the most part, I never care about the NAMES of colors. I have 2 reds and quite a few blues and greens. My paints are just, what I call, rainbow colors! I love "messy" painting, color bleeding and splattering! And, of course, I love to mix W/C with ink! I am now 74 and still draw minute detail but my swirly W/C is so liberating! My vision is not quite so good, so "sloppy" water colors suit me fine.

[judymcinnis]

I follow all of the creators, except one that you showed at the beginning. ( I will check that one out too) It was destined for me to find you too, Kristy.🌺

BTW Emma who lives not far from me in Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦, Just had her second son yesterday.👣

I only started painting last summer and I have sold 6 paintings. 4 in watercolour and 2 in acrylic. Not to mention numerous Christmas cards. I painted in watercolor this past Christmas. 😀

My biggest 2 mistakes are over working the paint. Big problem for me. Also, I am so hard on myself and I love that you always remind me to just play.❤️🖌️🎨

[lindenjenesse]

You had me. As I was pondering which of the first four "rules" I was "breaking" the most, you introduced the fifth: Overthinking. Well, that's me. Haha! But I like the solution: Thoughtful planning. As long as I *plan* for happy accidents, the joy is there!

[notabiologist]

I’m guilty of #1 the most…too much brush pressure (trying to be perfect). Well, really I’m guilty of all of them, plus a few more, because I just started painting and don’t really know what I’m doing. 😋

[tigercatz]

I’ve tried just about every art & craft out there. Jill of all, master of none. When it comes to watercolor, I’m definitely overthinking and not doing.

[VandalFavorites]

My favorite is the purposeful lift. It’s so amazing to see how to “bully” the color around the page. 😊

[TheMusicaEclectica]

Like you I've dipped my creative hand into just about every art/craft medium that exists. I'm a big DIYer and have refurbished multiple pieces of furniture for my home. I sew, crochet, make jewelry out of different mediums, and am an avid paper crafter. I've dabbled in drawing and think it's something I would like to work on developing my skills in. I took ceramics in highschool and would have pursued it more after graduating but couldn't afford a kiln, wheel, or all the other stuff required and didn't have a place to put it anyway. I still dabble in a lot of things but my go to's are beading, paper crafting, crochet, and I hope watercolor. I feel very drawn to it after taking an "exploring watercolor class last summer. It was a "no rules" class where we learned some general techniques and were encouraged to just let our brushes move across the paper but to follow a couple of guidelines. My favorite session was the one where we made random shapes/splotches and when they dried we had to draw lines with a pen to create a discernable image. I've discovered that I tend to overthink (I want to maintain too much control) and I usually use too much water. I know though that I'll find my balance and create some great to me watercolor works of art.

[Karen_Marie]

Although I don't love painting with acrylic, I used to be a volunteer teacher teaching a "wine and sip" type class but for kids (8 - 17) at a non-profit co-op, obviously using acrylic (because it's cheap and easy to work with).

I always started out my classes explaining that "I'm not a professional artist" and "I'm frankly not even very good" (this is true, some of my older students painted better than me) but I'm here because art is joyful and painting, in particular, is therapeutic. I told them I hoped they will not feel pressure to create a masterpiece or even a painting that looks exactly like mine or their neighbors but instead, I hope they can explore their creative side and have fun. And fun we had!

Unfortunately, I moved and so I had to stop teaching the class, but I greatly miss it and hope to start doing it again.

[mjpete]

I have also worked with most mediums, I even had college courses in several! I keep returning to watercolor, and I have for over 45 years! I am excited for the new potential artists joining in creating their own artworks! There are more ways to learn and share your art journey with the world today! You can even sell your art creations for real money, so much easier in today’s world! I am currently learning about soft pastels and I have found that I can use a watercolor under painting! I hope you continue to share your joy with watercolors with your viewers, your attitude is refreshing and truly wonderful! Thank you. Please take care, be safe and enjoy your day!

[patriciahorelick]

Oh my…like you so many…started with watercolor as a small child then modeling clay, then pencil drawing at 10 and later oil painting and free form clay sculpture and back to water color and then to acrylics and pen and ink…sometimes with watercolor added…
Kristy, thank you so much for pulling all of this out of my head with your question! I forgot to add years of polymer clay and too many crafts to name…my 77 years of art right here 😊

[SheriWinston]

It's fun to think about all of the mediums I've been using since I've also been making art for my entire life. Drawing: pencils, charcoal, oil and chalk pastels, crayons, colored pencils, pen and ink, markers, gel pens gelattos. Painting: Watercolors, oils and acrylics but especially and always watercolors. Pottery, batik, fiber arts, embroidery, Jewelry making, pysanky eggs, Basket making. Photography. Digital art. I've probably forgotten if you on this list. That was fun!

[ellencrimitrent]

Your doing amazing things Kristy!! Keep it up!!☺️ I think rules are always made to be broken- 😊

[yazosoyo]

All of the above! I specially freak out about wasting my good paper and my good watercolors 🙈